Philadelphia Union

Peter Nowak said after Saturday’s loss, “It’s never easy to be in this situation like we are right now after three games. I think from last week, we played much better. We need to be more opportunistic.”

He added, “I don’t think overall we had any kind of problems. The only thing missing right now is the results.”

He also said, “They are pushing very hard. I can’t say one bad thing about the effort. They did a good job with that, trying from different angles to score the tying goal. What we need to do now is believe it. We are a very good team, young but very good. We have the quality to win the games. That’s my job right now to inject the confidence and the security that they are still a good team.”

He continued, “It’s not easy for the guys in the locker room, but life goes on.”

Zac MacMath tried to look on the bright side. “It was a full 90 that I think I didn’t make any big mistakes like the previous games so I was happy about that. It’s still very disappointing with the result.”

Gabriel Farfan said, “You always want to get three points and, right now, we need three points more than ever. But we don’t feel the pressure too much. Obviously there is [pressure], but I think all of the guys in the locker room can handle it.”

SB Nation asks, “How many weeks will it be before Peter Nowak says, ‘You know what? I ruined this team and it’s all my fault.'” They conclude, “Truth be told, we’ll probably never hear those words out of his mouth, but all of it looks true in the early going, as the Philadelphia Union struggle to resemble a competent soccer team.”

Sebastien Le Toux Watch

The Goalkeeper has a transcript of an interview Sebastien Le Toux did with Vancouver Whitecaps daily radio show Team 1410. Le Toux says he’s looking forward to playing at PPL. “They know me as a player and who I am as a human, too, so they liked me for that. I like them too, because they always never gave up on us during two seasons.”

When asked about the difference between Vancouver coach Martin Rennie and Peter Nowak, Le Toux replied. “Yes, they are totally different. For Martin Rennie, it’s very important to communicate with a player, and be honest, and know exactly what you want and what he wants from you. Every time we take a decision, he comes to talk to you, and his door is always open. It’s a little bit different. I know, I lived with Peter Nowak, and it’s sometimes how a manager is.”

Le Toux is No. 9 on this list of soccer players who were treated as badly by their club as Peyton Manning was.

MLS

New York crushed Colorado 4–1 on Sunday. Kansas City topped Dallas 2–1. Philadelphia and Toronto are the only winless teams in the league and Toronto has a game in hand.

The New York Times says the early dominance of the Western Conference has more to do with a scheduling imbalance that has Eastern Conference teams doing most of the long traveling.

John Smallwood says that MLS needs to make an example of Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark, who called a ball boy an anti-gay slur for not getting him the ball fast enough. “Clark needs to be whacked, not just slapped on the wrist.”

Jeff Kassouf writes that WNY Flash will sign former Independence forward and 2011 WPS league MVP Veronica Boquete. He says former Independence midfielder Laura del Rio is also likely to sign with the Flash.

Final renovations to Sahlen Stadium, home to Western New York Flash and the USL’s Rochester Rhinos are nearly complete. Rochester city officials are looking for someone to manage the stadium.

US

As if Saturday wasn’t bad enough, the U-23 men lost 2–0 to Canada to drop to third in their group. They must defeat El Salvador tonight (9pm, Universal Sports Network, mun2, universalsports.com, CONCACAF.com) in order to advance to the semifinals and a chance to play in the London Olympics. In case you were wondering, Freddy Adu played the full 90, Amobi Okugo came on in the 76th minute, and Sheanon Williams was an unused substitute.

Freddy Adu said after the match, “In all the games we’ve been in, when we have bad games, we always respond. We have pretty good character as a team, so I think we’re going to respond.”

Soccer America says the US looked unprepared and lost against Canada. “[T]here may have been fewer eggs in the under-23 basket Porter took to Nashville than we previously imagined.”

Author: Ed Farnsworth
Ed used to play drums. A lot. Now he's managing editor of PSP. He likes researching Philadelphia soccer history. A lot. Email him at efarnsworth@phillysoccerpage.com. Follow him on Twitter @FarnsworthPSP.

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Real Madrid director of football Zinedine Zidane has revealed that he would like to be a head coach one day. The former France international replaced Jorge Valdano in the executive position at the Santiago Bernabeu in July 2011, but despite admitting that he is happy in his current role, he confessed that he wants to become a manager.

Game I enjoyed most this weekend (but only say the first half) was Juventus – Inter Milan. Inter Milan ended up losing 2-0 but first half was very open game with lots of action (but no goals; they came 2nd half). Juventus is on the roll and look like very very good. Inter Milan have fallen a long was since Mourinho left.